Totally Dramatic Rat Race
by Parody-lover
Summary: 7 teams. 2 million dollars. 1001 problems. Originally under Misc Cartoons
1. Meet The Racers

For those of you who haven't realized it yet, this fic will be based on the movie Rat Race. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you go check it out, cause it's really funny and I borrow A LOT of things form that movie.

Meet The Racers

Las Vegas, Sin City, the place where what happens there stays there; hopefully you get my point by now because I've run out of names. Anyways at the center of gambling central is the famous, the glamorous, the overly priced Wawanakwa Hotel, run by, who else, Chris Maclean. For some, it's just another casino with the same gambling equipment, buffets and show girls. But for a lucky (or unlucky) few, it's the starting point of a chance of a lifetime.

**Trent and Gwen Hanningan**

As Trent and Gwen made their way towards the reception table, both looked around and started to wonder how on earth they managed to book the place. As a local cafe musician and an artist respectively, both did not make a lot of cash.

"See? I told you we had enough in our savings to get here. And who knows, maybe I might get discovered here and we'll get rich." Trent joked as the line-up in front of them dwindled and they found themselves in front of a professional looking woman.

"Alright, here's your key, Room 2231."

"Thank you, Miss...?"

"Please, just call my Leshawna, everyone here does, and would you two be interested in moving up to a honeymoon suite?

"Oh no, I don't think we can afford it."

"That's too bad, I'll get a bellhop to help you with you're luggage. Please enjoy your stay at the Wawanakwa Hotel and Casino."

"Thanks, we will," Gwen commented and the two lovebirds were off to check out their room.

**Cody Fargo and DJ Morris**

Up one floor from the reception were two guys, the skinny brown-haired Cody and the muscular Jamaican DJ. Upon first meeting, one could easily tell who was the brain and who was the brawns of the duo.

Cody walked to the edge of the top stair and, after making sure no one was looking, carefully placed a glass at the top flight of stairs, "Okay, so here we go, you," he said, pointing at DJ (as if that wasn't obvious), "slip on the glass, let gravity do its thing, and then we get away with lots of money after we sue the hotel for negligence or something like that."

DJ looked down towards the bottom of the red carpeted stairs, looking down from the balcony it didn't seem _that_ high, but now..., "Wait, why do I have to be the victim here?"

"Because," started Cody, looking like he's explained it before a few times, "I admit, that I am a bit on the wimpy side, so if someone like you were to fall, than that proves that the place is dangerous. Besides, how else are we going to get money here? Huh?"

"Uh, we gamble?" stated DJ in a slightly annoyed tone, "I mean we are in a hotel-casino..."

"Sure, if you want to think inside the box..." started Cody, unbeknownst to the two a woman was walking near the stair and the next thing they saw was some lady rolling down to the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh my God, what happened?" asked a shocked person at the bottom of the stairs.

"She must have slipped on a glass carelessly left by one of the workers."

"She should really sue this hotel for a lot of money."

At the top of the stairs Cody merely pointed down with an "I told you so" look on his face.

**Geoff Murdock **

If there was one thing Geoff could do, it was partying, and right now he was in full party-swinging mode.

"Hey! Geoff, glad you could make it to my bachelor party. It wouldn't have been fun without you!" Joey, his best friend commented as people started to disperse out of the party room. They had been up all night, and some of the more normal people headed to their rooms to catch a few zzs.

"Thanks man, sorry I can't stay for the wedding but you know my work. There's a lot of parties that need catering and planning and someone has to oversee everything. Got a plane ride back at eleven today so I can't miss it."

"Too bad bro, we'll send you a tape of it. But still, it's just eight o'clock right now, why not stay behind a little while to test your luck huh? You haven't even touched a slot machine yet."

A serious face grew on Geoff, "you can't be serious right? Joey, I just managed to pay off my last debts from bets. Plus my counsellor didn't want me to even come here in the first place since I'm still recovering from my gambling addition. My ex-girlfriend dumped me because of that, and I almost lost my business so I am not going to go down that road again."

"Alright dude. Sorry, just forget about it."

"Thanks man, say hi to Amy for me."

**Owen Harding**

Owen was depressed, and whenever he was depressed he ate more than usual, and at 296 pounds he usually at a lot to begin with. As Owen took his overly filled plate to a table at the gold painted brightly lit all-you –can eat buffet, the bartender working besides him glanced at him for moment.

"You seem so familiar..."

"No I don't!" shouted Owen nervously, "I must have one of those really common faces."

"Really, huh? Cause I can't help but feel I've seen you before somewhere. Oh well..." as the bartender walked away to serve someone, Owen sighed a breath of relief, and his attentions turned to the big screen TV located in front of the lovely and realistic wall painting of a Venetian villa. His expression turned sour however, as he realized what was playing.

"And welcome back to sports news on KTQY morning news at eight. Now it's time for our sports bonehead of the week. Who can forget one of the biggest mistakes ever made in football history? Yep it's no surprise that Owen Harding is our bonehead of the week. Water boy to the LA Avengers, Owen accidentally shoved and thus broke star quarterback, Lance Wiggum's leg, all in the process of just getting a hot dog! Not only did it cost the Avengers their ticket to the playoff but also cost a lot of betters a lot of money. Wouldn't want to be Owen right now, let's watch the clip!"

But by then Owen had already left, carrying his enormous plate of food with him

**Katie Findley and Sadie Harvey**

"Eee! Katie! It's so good to see you I've missed you sooooo much!" Sadie said as she hugged her BFFFL (Best Female Friend For Life) amidst the red leather chairs and mahogany table of the red-carpeted lounge.

"I know, we barely have time to hang out since that news station hired me as an anchor."

"Yeah, But I watched your segment every night! I loved the segment with the little puppy that one time. It was soo cute!"

"Totally cute. This is going to be a great vacation ever!" With that the two bounded towards the casino, much to the relief of the people around them who were trying to relax and read.

**Beth Birkins**

Beth sat by bar table, drinking and staring intently on any thing one might call talent. That was about the only thing you really do when you're a talent scout for casino and hotels. It had been a 

slow week, even for Beth, one of the more well-known talent scouts, things had been going downhill ever since Siegfried and Roy cancelled on her she needed to find another act and fast. So far it was no such luck, unless you call a guy who can balance a knife on his head while having a spoon hanging from his nose entertaining. Beth sat, sulking slightly when her cell phone began to ring.

"Hello, yes Jen, I'm working on it right now...at the Maclean Hotel and Casino...yes I know I'm at a rival hotel! ...tell Mr. Wynman that I'll have his act ready soon," she quickly and gladly hung up and muttered under her breath, Dad was right, should've stuck with singing; the day I get rich, I'll quit this stinking job!" With that she downed the rest of her iced tea and headed off to the slot machine.

**The Slots**

Trent was walking along the casino after dropping his bags at his room. His wife wanted to rest a bit so he was exploring the place alone. Finally he ended up in the somewhat noisy, brightly lit casino section. Trent walked pass the roulette tables and card games and decided to try a few rounds of the slots since he wasn't a high roller (plus Gwen would kill him if she found out he wasted all their money.) Sitting down he inserted the coin and pulled, almost instantly he heard a small clatter. Realizing he won he reached in to pull out his winnings contently but all he got was a small gold coin.

"What the... "See guest services for prize." I wonder..." Trent pocketed the coin and headed to exactly there.

Meanwhile, as Trent left he passed by DJ and Cody, both of whom were playing a whole row of slots at once (Cody thought it would increase the probability of winning.) However, they didn't seem to have much luck until-

"Hey I think we won something," DJ said as he pointed to one of the machines. Cody reached in a pulled out a gold coin.

"See I told you my theory works, wait a minute, this isn't real money..."

Geoff was briskly walking towards the entrance of the hotel, bag in hand and the sunny clear weather of LA just a few feet away. As he walked he passed a few slot machines and out of pure habit, stopped to look at it.

After a moment Geoff quickly said out loud, "what am I doing! I shouldn't even be near this place, my counsellor will be so mad. Still...one round wouldn't be so bad. He did say I was recovering really quickly," finally he made up his mind and after rummaging his pocket for some loose change he inserted and pulled the lever down. Then before he saw the results he started to walk away, "there, that wasn't so bad..." Geoff suddenly heard a clatter from the slot machine and quickly went back to find a gold coin...

Owen was at the moment showing off his multitasking skills. Not only was he finished off his apple cobbler, drinking a can of pop and playing the slots at the same time, but he was also avoiding eye contact with anyone who might recognise him. Suddenly he was snapped out of his worrying after he heard a noise coming from the machine. He looked in and found a single shining gold coin...

"Ohh, look Sadie! I won!" screamed Katie excitedly as she reached in to get her prize.

"You are so lucky Katie! Hey, what's that?" she pointed at the gold coin that was now in Katie's fingers...

Beth was gambling away like there was no tomorrow, feeling a bit disgruntled she kept filling the slot machine and pulling the handle. Finally she stopped when she heard a small sound of a coin. She looked down, pulled out a gold coin and after reading it said happily, "well, seems like my luck is changing. With that she headed towards guest services...

--

Finally! I am done the first chapter! Sorry if it seemed a bit slow there, but this is the first chapter and I have to get everything set up. There'll be more I am currently working on this, TDISP and the end of TDM. But it might be a while, school's been real tough on me, I just did three group reports and now I have a socials studies individual report on Native Americans of Canada!

Read and review please!


	2. On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

Now we're finally introducing the plot, as well as a few other familiar characters…

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

"The penthouse has a lovely view of almost the entire city Beth. Do you mind if I called you Beth? I feel more comfortable speaking informally, reminds me of my old neighbourhood," the guests service woman Leshawna said as she led Beth to her "prize."

"Sure," Beth answered, as the two walked out of the surprisingly comfortable and lavish elevator and onto the top floor. She started to look at the fancy paintings and glossy wooden mini tables placed in different areas with golden flower pots filled with...well, flowers, what else? "So is this like a free buffet or some business scam on time sharing beach houses?"

"You'll see, let's just say that Mr. Maclean, the owner of this hotel, has planned something special and...quite unlike what I've ever seen. Ah! Here we go, Beth, welcome to the penthouse." With a dramatic flourish Leshawna opened the door, revealing a large ballroom-like circular room with a sky patterned ceiling, marble floor and a grand piano at the "corner." As Beth walked into the room and down the three marble steps she noticed that the room had a slight Roman/Greek influence, with white columns looking as if it held up the entrance. There were also a few people already there; each content with the all you can eat buffet and the professional looking bartender.

"Excuse me," Beth said as she walked towards a slightly short man with a lean profile, "but do you know what's going on here?"

"Beats me," Cody said as he piled some shrimp on his plate, "but there's free food so I'm good." Cody having already over filled his plate walked away, passing by Owen, Katie and Sadie who had struck up a conversation Owen would have liked to ignore.

"So that's where I know you from! You're the bone head, the hot dog guy!" Sadie said a little loudly, "you know my boss lost two hundred dollars in a bet because of you."

Owen groaned and said, "Hot dog guy, yes. But bonehead, come on I have feelings too you k-"

"Oh my god, Sadie, why don't we take a picture of us with Owen here and put it on our Facebook account!" Katie quickly took out her cell phone from her pocket.

"You know, we water boys do more than just carry the water, which is already an important job, we-" he paused to smile at the camera as Katie and Sadie crowded around him to fit in the picture. After the snap he continued talking, "we do a lot of other things like..." he paused again and remained silent for a while.

"So on your honeymoon huh. Well congrats dude," DJ said to Trent as they ate and enjoyed the view.

Suddenly the door opened again and everyone turned to see a slightly skinny brown haired man with a little stubble on his chin walk in.

"My, look at this room. It's huge eh?" the man said as he gently touched a nearby flower pot, "I mean have you ever seen such a big room. This is a wonderful room no?"

"We know, we're in it!" said a slightly annoyed Beth. The man had stopped exploring the room and was walking towards the others.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Ezekiel, Ezekiel Paxton. No pun intended."

"What pun?" asked a confused Cody.

"So, does anyone know the 422 on this prize thing," Ezekiel asked no one in particular, completely ignoring Cody's question.

"I think you mean 411," corrected Trent politely.

"So sorry. I was home-schooled so my slang is not the best eh?" he said a bit jokingly.

"Well, you don't really have to worry cause after post secondary education people don't really use a lot of slang all the time," assured Katie.

"Well that's good right?"

"Ah! I see most of our guests are here, let's get started," the words came from the mouth of a man with somewhat greying black hair, "I undoubtedly know that you know that I am Chris Maclean, the one and only millionaire owner of this fine establishment." Leshawna, who was standing by the door, suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

As everyone gathered and sat at the large brown oval table, Chris started talking again, "now as you know the chances of winning big in a casino is astronomical, almost zero to none sometimes. I mean, what sane minded person would waste so much money on playing high stakes games," he smiled, flashing his bright teeth, "however, what would you say if I told you that today, you, yes only you lucky few, has a chance to become millionaires with a one in seven chance of winning. I repeat, a one in seven chance of becoming millionaires."

"Sorry, am I late?" asked Geoff from the entrance, who had finally decided to come.

"Not at all, Mr. Murdock, please come and take a seat."

"No I'm fine standing here. Wait a minute how did you know my name?"

"I know a lot of things about you Mr. Murdock, heck I know a lot of things about all of you! Now, moving on..."

Unbeknownst to everyone except Maclean, one of the walls of the penthouse wasn't a wall at all, rather a one way window. On the other side of said window was another room, a bit smaller (though not much) and had the air of a large hotel room. In it was a crowd of people, all of whom were dressed in the best clothes and look, for lack of a better term, filthy rich. While some crowded near the one way window to have a clear look others were watching another wall filled with TV screens that were connected directly to a few choice security cameras. Courtney Summers, an average looking business power house walked over to strike up a conversation with a colleague (and sometimes rival.)

"So Heather, which one do you think you'll choose?"

Heather McPherson, who seemed to always have a subtle menacing look in her eyes simply replied, "the muscular one in the light blue shirt, opened beige casual suit and cowboy hat. You know the one near the door. He seems quite active."

"True, but he was late, and time management might be key to winning."

"You have a point there..."

Meanwhile back in the penthouse Chris was still talking, "a few thousand miles from this hotel is a city in New Mexico called Silver City."

"Gold rush," commented DJ.

"Correct Mr. Morris, indeed they did struck gold there. Anyways, in a little train station in Silver City there is a row of lockers. Mr. Dennard, if you please."

A thin man with a business suit on came in with a small chest.

"Everyone, this is Noah Dennard, my attorney."

"The richest people always need the best as they say," Noah added, showing off his slightly cocky side. He proceeded to open the chest revealing seven keys.

"Now these identical keys open up the same locker in that train station. Locker 001," continued Chris as the others examined their golden key, "and in that locker is a red duffel bag with the hotel logo on it and in that red duffel bag is...two million dollars."

That statement seemed to catch everyone's attention as Owen repeated, "Two million dollars?"

"Yep, all tax free, no catch and in cash. First one there to open the locker keeps it all. Also we've hidden a tracking device on the Wawanakwa hotel key chains in order to access your progress. Go!" he shouted as he threw his arms down dramatically. No one moved. Chris repeated himself again, "Go!"

"Wait, you can't just choose people at random and throw them unexpectedly in a race for that much money," Trent stated.

"I can do whatever I want, I'm rich for God's sake. Now, go!"

"Wait, what are the rules?" asked Beth.

"There's only one rule. You ready to hear it? Here we go: there are no rules. Go!"

"So when you say go, you mean like, just...go?" asked Katie.

"Yes," started Chris a little irritated now, "Go means start, commence, get moving. Technically speaking you've been racing for less than a minute at this point Mr. Murdock is winning because he's closest to the door!"

"So we start now?" asked DJ. Sighing, Chris quickly took out a racing pistol and fired into the air and that got everyone running. A moment later the chandelier crashed down due to a bullet.

"Leshawna go call maintenance please," asked Chris.

--

"It's a race! And in a race you must stretch out your muscles first." Ezekiel then started jogging around and doing some stretches as everyone else crowded around the elevator waiting.

"This is crazy. No one gives away that much money with no strings attached," Geoff started. Unknown to all of them the high rollers in the secret room beside the penthouse could clearly see and hear them on a mini TV screen.

"So you're not going to race?" questioned Owen as Ezekiel was doing jumping jacks.

"Nope, Chris and his other business partners make millions every year from chumps who waste all their money on gambling" Geoff reasoned, in fact that was what his counsellor had said on his first day of therapy, " And I'm not going to be one of his chumps. Believe me I used to be but not anymore."

"He's right, we should put our foot down and refuse to do it. There has to be a catch." Beth agreed. Everyone else made silent gestures of agreement.

"Yeah, I not going to waste my honeymoon just because of some crazy race with...two million dollars ...as a prize..." Trent trailed off but quickly shook his head. There was a thick silence as the guest waited silently for the elevator, except for the huffing and puffing of Ezekiel, who was now onto leg stretches.

"Well, see you around guys, my room is just a few floors down so I'll just take the stairs. Get a little exercise in you know," Trent started nonchalantly as he waved and walked backwards towards the door to the stairs. A minute after he was gone, Owen clapped his hands together.

"Elevator must be stuck or something, I better...take the stairs too." He walked over to the door, opened it, and waved as he went in. The remaining others stared at each other.

--

"Oh crap!" yelled Trent as he saw Owen bounding down the stairs after him, quickly followed by everyone else except Geoff and Ezekiel. (one was adamant on not racing while the other was still cluelessly warming up one floor above, guess who was who.) Everyone ran down as fast as they could trying out run the other competitors while urging their partners (if they had partners) to hurry up. Unfortunately Owen, who somehow ended up at the back, tripped and fell down, causing a painful domino effect that ended up in the racers all scrunched up in a corner. As everyone was fighting and clawing there way out of the mesh of people Sadie whistled loudly.

"People, why don't we work together? You know we all get there at the exact same time and split it fifty-fifty," she suddenly realised that there were seven people in the pile, "I mean fifty-fifty-fifty..., well you know what I mean!" The others were about to agree when suddenly Ezekiel came running down saying, "it's a race, it's a race, I'm winning, I'm winning!" That got everyone back to fighting and clawing again.

--

"And there off!" Chris shouted as the high rollers crowded around him, "isn't this fun? The greatest gambling experience ever I dare say, with pawns that can lie, and cheat and play dirty!" he chuckled, "and it's all exclusive to the Wawanakwa hotel folks. Yes, I understand men..."

"A-hem," coughed Courtney a few feet away.

"I mean I understand people like you. The regular methods of gambling have gotten boring, plain, there's no thrill. But this," he pointed to the TV monitors, "is new, fresh! I know what you want, I know what you need. This hotel, MY hotel is where you belong. Now please start placing your bets and give them to Mr. Dennard. Single file please."

--

**Trent and Gwen**

"So let me get this straight, through some small miracle of luck, we're now entered in a crazy race against about six other teams to Silver City, New Mexico, where in a locker that you have the key to, is a bag filled with two million dollars, in cash."

"Yes!" Trent said to his wife in their room, practically jumping up and down with excitement, "and we have to go soon or we'll be the last ones! And before you say anything, no I don't think Chris Maclean is planning anything evil. This could be a chance of a lifetime."

Gwen took a second to think about it, although it was a bit fishy there was two million dollars on the line.

"Well, what are we waiting for let's go!"

"Wait, what about our luggage," Trent asked as they ran out the door.

"Forget that! We'll be able to buy as much luggage as we want if we win!"

**Katie and Sadie**

"Thank you, you are an angel!" shouted Katie as she and Sadie were running into the main hall of the hotel, "I managed to get the last charter jet that will personally fly us to Silver City!"

"Eee! This is going to be some much fun. Boy that news station must pay you a ton of money for you to rent a private jet."

"Totally, and we'll have more when money when we win!"

**Cody and DJ**

"Whoa, watch it! I know we're in a race, but no need to get killed for two million dollars!" DJ yelled as he held on for dear life. He and Cody were already on the road in their own used, tattered 789 Chevy, with the top opened and Cody driving like a maniac. Ezekiel was following a few cars away in his own beat up pickup truck (surprising for a man his size).

"Look DJ, in life there are those who take the long safe path and those who take the gravely short path full of pot holes. Guess which one wins two million dollars?"

"I have a strong feeling that your idea of an answer is the second one."

"Bingo."

**Beth and Owen**

"Taxi!" yelled Beth and Owen at the same time as the two started making a dash for the same taxi. As both of them got to each they started fighting for the door handle. The driver didn't really care to stop them, it was entertaining and it wasn't part of his job.

"You know, there's another available taxi across the street!" Beth yelled.

"So? By the time I cross the street and the cab u-turns onto the right road you'll be half way there! Why should I give this taxi to you?"

"Because I'm a lady and ladies go first."

He stopped fighting, "oh, you do have a point there. Here you go," Owen quickly opened the door for Beth.

"Thank you," she replied as she stepped in. Beth quickly slammed the door shut as Owen made a mad, jay-walking, traffic stopping dash across the street, "I can't believe that worked," she said to herself, she quickly turned to the driver, "Las Vegas airport and step on it!"

"You got it, lady."

--

Read and review please.

On another note, has anyone ever seen the movie Ocean's Eleven? I'm thinking of doing a TDI version of it, but may need a bit of help filling in some charaters. ANY help would be greatly apprecieated.

On yet another note, I will be updating my other two stories first before updating this again, it's nice to have some balance between fics ya know?


	3. A Swing And A Miss

I know, it's been a seriously long time since I updated this! But since so many of you wanted an update: here you go, think of it as an early Christmas present.

--

A Swing And A Miss

**Owen**

Some days, when Owen was particularly lucky, or if God was giving him a freebie, his mess up at the football stadium would not affect his well being. Today was not that day.

"So that big fat idiot just charges towards Lance, just for a freaking hotdog! That bonehead cost me my week's pay. I swear, if I ever see him, I'll give him a piece of my mind!" The cab driver, who asked to be called Driver Hatchet, was ranting continuously and was oblivious to the fact that said bonehead was in his cab, trying to hide his face behind a left behind newspaper.

"Really?" squeaked a nervous Owen.

"Hell yeah! I used to be a chef, you know, so if I ever see him, I will seriously take out my old chopping knife and…"

"Hey look! There's the airport, I'll just walk from here." Owen said. Hatchet merely shrugged and parked near the curb where all his other taxi cab buddies were parking. Owen quickly paid and ran as fast as he could, but not fast enough to escape the eye of another cabbie who quickly jogged over to Hatchet.

"Hey, didn't you know who was in your cab?"

"No."

"It was that bonehead! The guy who cost us our wages in that bet!'

"That was him?" Oh boy, was Hatchet fuming now. "He was in my cab and I let him get away, darn!

**Ezekiel**

Ezekiel grew up on a farm, and thus could drive a tractor in his sleep with his arms behind his back. Out here in the city…let's just say it's a miracle he's still alive and not imbedded in car metal.

CRASH! Okay, maybe that was spoken too soon.

"My pick-up!" Ezekiel quickly got out and inspected the damage: the entire front was bashed in, its engine gone to car parts heaven. The only thing that really remained intact was his license plate…whoops it just fell daintily to the asphalt, spoke too soon again.

The other driver got out of her equally messed up Ferrari. It was none other than Eva Gregori, current reigning heavyweight boxing champion.

"You have to pay for my car!" Ezekiel shouted. Clearly he had a death wish today.

"Me! Why me? You're the one in the pick up and you were speeding past a red light!" She yelled back at an even louder volume.

"Because you're a woman."

"And what does that have to do with this?" she asked slowly through clenched teeth, fists forming at her side.

Ezekiel scoffed, "because, being that you're part of the inferior gender of the human species it is your job to serve and obey a man's command." He seriously should've seen that knockout of a punch coming…he didn't.

**Geoff**

For a guy who had no interest in the race, Geoff Murdock was currently in the lead. Apparently slow and steady does work. He scoffed softly as he looked at the Hannigan couple, dashing across the floor. He turned back towards his drink at the airport Starbucks, (seriously, where won't you find them now a day?) twirled his locker key in amusement and took a sip.

"Ah-choo,' Geoff turned towards the source of the quiet sneeze and found himself staring at a blonde woman in black pants, black shirt and brown, velvet jacket, a really hot blonde woman to be more precise. She was currently reading a book.

Easing out of his stool, Geoff silently walked over to her table.

"Hey there," he started. The woman looked up.

"Sorry, I don't have any spare change right now."

"What? No, I'm just, okay, I don't usually do this but I'm reading the same book as you, see?" He pulled out a his own copy of the book _Bones To Ashes _by Kathy Reichs, granted he was only reading it because his next party he had to cater was for the author's birthday and therefore had to familiarize himself with her books but nonetheless, it was turning out to be a very rewarding read in more ways than one right now.

"Wow, what a coincident, have you gotten to the part about the zombie attack?"

"Zombie attack?" He had definitely not read that part yet, he hadn't even known about it. He frantically began running through the pages and stuttering.

She laughed gently, "Kidding! No, there's no zombie attack but really it's a great book."

Geoff smirked, "Well, you got me there, but don't be too proud, some people say I can get pretty gullible at times." He had never believed it really when people told him that, but now it was making a good conversation starter, "I'm Geoff Murdock, by the way. Can I get you a drink? From the bar I mean, not Starbucks."

She smiled, "Bridgette. Bridgette Dodson. And I'm sorry, but I have to decline since I'm flying."

"I don't really think it'll affect you that much. Unless they've really amped up the boarding restrictions."

"Oh no, it's not that, when I said I'm flying, I really mean I'm flying. I'm a pilot."

"Oh," he said, genuinely surprised and interested, "well, then, I guess I'll see you around, later."

"Maybe." With that the pilot returned to reading her book, and Geoff was quietly walking back to his stool, muttering about what an idiot he was under his breath.

**Cody and DJ**

"Hey, out of the way! We have two million dollars to win here!" Cody yelled as he pushed past a line of people while DJ followed and apologized…repeatedly. They finally got to the counter after Beth had just run off with her tickets.

"Hey there, we need two tickets for the earliest flight to New Mexico, fast."

The over perky, most likely coffee addicted attendant typed into her computer, "Oh, sorry but we've just ran out of seats." Fuming, the two friends sulked off towards the waiting area by the huge Plexiglas window; at least the short scrawny one did, while the other more muscular one just walked away calmly.

"I guess we aren't going to get there first if we aren't going by air, huh?" asked DJ, knowing all too well the answer.

Cody sighed and looked out the window dejectedly. The view was off the runway, with airplanes and runway attendants and all the rest. In the background, one could see the radar used for the planes in order for them to take off. That gave Cody a plan.

"If we aren't racing by air, no one's going to."

**Katie and Sadie**

Despite already boarded on a private jet that was more than ready to take off, Katie and Sadie were experiencing a bit of a…unique problem: a panhandler had apparently given up washing car windshields, and had moved up to washing airplane windshields.

"Spare some change and buy a squirrel please?" asked the panhandler, once famous (or infamous) athlete Tyler Banks who lost his million dollar career by, well sucking a lot at the sport (like that's a surprise.) He had taken up the hobby of squirrel collecting and was now trying to sell them after seeing the flaws in his hobby.

"Don't just sit there! Deal with it, we're supposed to be in the air already!" shouted an impatient Katie to the two hapless pilots.

"Yes sir! Uh, Tim, how do we deal with a panhandler?"

"I don't know, but we are not buying a squirrel. Why don't we just give him some food instead?"

"Great idea! What do hobos eat?"

"You idiot! They're human beings too, they eat what we eat!"

"They do?" his partner replied incredulously.

Katie and Sadie spent the nest few minutes groaning as the Tyler continued to wash the windshield and their pilots were arguing over what hobos ate.

**Cody and DJ…Again**

"I've counted ten things that are illegal regarding this plan of yours," DJ remarked as he climbed up the gigantic plane radar, a hook tied to a rope in hand. Said rope lead down the ladder, through the giant recently cut hole in the iron fence and attached to the front of Cody's car.

"Relax buddy," Cody replied from the safety of his car, "have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Yes, multiple times!"

"Yeah, well this time, my plan has to work. It's so simple, you hook the radar, I pull it down with my car, none of the planes or jets can fly."

"Yeah, simple, like that plan of suing the casino by falling down the stairs?"

"Will you just hook it up already?'

DJ just grunted in response, swung the rope like a lasso and it managed to hook itself to the radar. Unfortunately, it was then that the radar was starting to be put to use, as evidenced by its sudden rotating motion which caused the rope to start to wrap around pulling the car with it.

"This is not good," both DJ and Cody said at once.

**The, Uh, People Who Work In Those Tower Thingy…**

"That's strange," said an intern as he looked out the window.

"What?" asked his boss impatiently.

"I'm not really sure, but I think I see two guys in a car being dragged up by a rope, climbing up the radar tower." The intern squinted, "Sir, I think the guys have landed on the ground, after jumping out the of the car. I think one of them ripped off their license plate, beforehand though. And now they seem to be running away…"

"Uh huh," said his boss, not really paying attention. He had important things to do and listening to an intern ramble was not one of them.

"Sir, I can't really tell…but I think the bolts of the radar are ripping out because of the weight of the car dragging it down." Suddenly he winced, "Ah, sir?"

"What is it Johnson?" barked the boss.

"The radar just collapsed," he replied in a casual tone of voice.

**Geoff…Again (wow, lots of different points of views huh?)**

"Ladies, and gentlemen, pardon us for the interruption, but due to technical difficulties, all flights are now grounded for an undetermined amount of time," the voice on the intercom said.

Suddenly, like prairie dogs on the plains of Saskatchewan, several of the racers heads popped up from where they were sitting, and Geoff became a first hand witness of what could be described as crazy people running as fast as they can out of the airport. Or, at least he would have, if the news had not inspired something else in his mind.

"So…hows about that drink I proposed, Bridgette?" Geoff asked, silently making his way back to the pilot.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but I like I said, I will be flying," she said, as politely as she could.

Geoff pointed upwards to the speakers, "but they said that all flights were grounded…"

A look of sudden realization adorned her face, "Oh, sorry, that's for airplanes and jets. I fly a helicopter; we use a different radar system."

For the second time that day, Geoff's face fell, "Oh…" Suddenly the wheels in his head were turning and using all his brain power…he began to think (oh this could take a while.). _Helicopter…everyone else grounded…Cute pilot who I've become familiar with…_

"Uh, Geoff?" Bridgette asked, after seeing him just stand there for a minute.

He just smiled in response, "What would you say if I told you I could make you two million dollars richer?"

--

FYI Geoff, money is not a way to get into a girl's heart. (shakes head)

You don't have to review if you don't want to, but I seriously hope that this reverse psychology thing works.


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